Crock Pot Beef Stew

One of our favorite Sunday dinners is this Crock Pot Beef Stew! Hearty pieces of beef and vegetables slow cooked in gravy. Serve with buttered rolls and you’ll have one delicious meal! September is here and I could not be happier! Fall is quickly approaching so that means soup and stew season is almost here. Yippee! I’m not sad at all to say goodbye to the crazy heat. Summer was fun but I’m ready for the holidays. 🙂

I can’t think of anything better than eating a warm bowl of stew on a chilly day. Too bad we’re still soaring in the high 90’s here, but before we know it the weather will be cooling down and we’ll be enjoying this amazing stew again. It’s the perfect Sunday meal to make for your loved ones. I’ve been making this for years and love to serve it with our favorite rolls. It is beyond delicious!

Crock Pot Beef Stew

2015-09-01 13:33:07

Serves 8

A delicious beef stew loaded with potatoes and carrots slow cooked in the crock pot.

In a large plastic bag, combine the dry onion soup mix and paprika. Add in meat and shake the bag to coat meat with the seasonings. (You may have to do that step in two batches, for all the meat to fit) Once meat is coated, spread out evenly into a greased 7 quart crock pot.

Top meat evenly with diced potatoes, carrots and onion.

Mix the cream of celery soup and ketchup in a small bowl. Pour mixture over the meat and vegetables.

Cover crock pot with lid. Cook on low heat for 8 hours or until meat is cooked through and vegetables are tender. Stir to combine everything then serve.

Hopefully you waited. Creamed soups need time to break down. If it stayed in a curdled stage, next time temp the soup. Add about one cup of the hot liquid to the condensed soup. Wisk until incorporated then add to the stew. Stir lightly.

I didn’t add water to cream of celery soup the first time and family said, “it’s good, but has no broth”. So second attempt was make up cream of celery soup up per direction on can and everyone liked it better.

I used a cup of jarred marinara. (Olive oil, roasted garlic and basil). It was the only tomato-based pantry item I had on hand and it tasted delicious. The only recommendation: if you’re crockpot is newer or gets super hot, go ahead and stir at the 6 hour mark so the meet does t dry out at the bottom. You can turn to warm shortly after. My warm is equivalent to low on most.

I am a new subscriber to your blog. I made your Crock Pot Beef Stew this weekend…it was the best I have ever made!!! My husband and our boys loved it. I just shared this recipe with my sisters-in-law. I can’t wait to see what other crock pot meals you post.

Just made this recipe. Although nice and hearty, I think the ketchup taste is too strong. I will definitely make it again….maybe next time I’ll take it easy of the ketchup and instead add A-1 and/or Worchestershire.

I agree about the ketchup taste. I personally liked the taste, but all my husband could taste was ketchup. Trying it next week with a can of Campbell’s Golden Mushroom soup in place of the ketchup. Will determine if I should add ketchup toward the end of cooking, possibly 1/4 cup if need be.

I made this stew this weekend, and my husband and my sons loved it,. I felt it was a little salty. When I was just re-reading the recipe. It says ” 2 (1 oz) packages dry onion soup mix.” I have never seen 1 oz packages of onion soup mix….so I am confused, cause I used 2 normal packages of onion soup mix, did I use too much??

I made this today – It was delicious! I made a few changes. I cut up a chuck pot roast into cubed stew size meat. I added 2 cups of frozen peas, an extra onion, about 3/4 cup of chopped celery, and salt and freshly ground pepper. I also cooked it in my crockpot on high instead of low. (For 4 1/2 hours.) After around 3 hours, I stirred it. So very good! Definitely a keeper! Thank you Holly for your great recipe!

I cooked this recipe a couple days ago for me and my roommates! It was delicious and so easy. One thing I did differently was brown the meat once I coated it with the onion soup mix to get that flavor to penetrate better, and it turned out sooo good. Thanks for posting this!

Just put mine in the crockpot!!! As I’m re reading the directions I realized I forgot to peel the potatoes…oops. I scrubbed them really well under cold water though. I hope it still tastes good!! Too early haven’t had coffee yet..haha..

I made this stew on Saturday. It was beyond fantastic!! Not only did I make a delicious meal for my family, but, I got to go out and have fun while it was in the slow cooker. Couldn’t have been easier or tastier! Followed the recipe to a T – wouldn’t change a thing. Thanks so much for sharing.

This recipe was REALLY good. I added 3 chopped up celery stalks. It was easy and simple to make. Perfect comfort food. This will definitely be added into my arsenal of Crock Pot recipes for the winter.

plan on making a version of this tonight… I am going to put it on high though seeing I am staring it in the afternoon instead of being able to let is sit all day on low. I am also going to use cream of mushroom and nix the ketchup.. I might add crushed tomato because I know I have that and not paste.. not sure yet. I will let you know how it come out.

I made this this weekend and we loved it! I subbed the ketchup for a can of tomato soup and the flavor was wonderful! Next time I think I will cut the meat in half and maybe add celery since I love soups with heavy veggies! Thanks for sharing!

As a college student..this was super easy to make this morning. My husband and I love trying new recipes and can’t wait for dinner tonight. I will comment later on how it tastes/any changes I would make. The only change I made while making it (since I read the other comments from people) was the ketchup. I did 3-4 squirts of ketchup and stirred it with the cream of celery soup and see if that will make a difference or not. (;

I made this for dinner tonight working with what I had on hand so I had less carrots, one less potato, and half the meat, however it turned out 10000000000% DE-FREAKIN-LICIOUS!!!! I did change a few things though, because my two year old was to be eating it as well, I chopped the baby carrots into thirds, I also only used 1/3 of the ketchup since some of the comments suggested it was too much, added a splash of worcestershire and a splash of ACV! It is soo good!!!! Thank you for sharing the recipe!!!

Just put it in the crock pot! So excited to try. I’m with some of the others…I do not love an overpowering taste of ketchup so I made a change…I put 1/4 C ketchup and 3/4 cup beef broth. We shall see! Hope it’s good because we have company coming! 🙂

The ketchup made it to sweet and taste a lot like ketchup. I added beef broth to simmer down the ketchup taste and some black pepper. Helped a lot and taste better. I also added some parsley towards the end. Taste a lot better.

***Highly Recommended*** I made this last night with positive comments all around, actually great comments and I have a family of harsh critics. I read the reviews and decided to reduce the tomato sauce/ketchup to 1/2 cup, I also added a couple of teaspoons of crushed garlic to the soup mix before adding to the slow cooker, plus 1 cup of frozen peas about an hour before serving. I used a small slow cooker with beef that must have come from an old cow, tough as! I ended up cooking it for 6 hours on high, it took that long for the contents to heat up and meat to become tender. Thank you for such a wonder slow cooker recipe that will be made over and over again.

I just made this. I was worried about the comments saying it would taste to much like ketchup, so I did 1/2 cup instead. It was absolutely delicious and all my family had seconds. I will be making again. I also used canned whole potatoes to cut on prep time. Thanks!!!

This is THE recipe I’ve wanted! Absolutely delicious and super easy. I messed up by grabbing a can of cream of celery and a can of cream of chicken soup instead of 2 cream of celery soups but they worked fine. Deeeeeelish!!!

I don’t notice the ketchup flavor being too strong, so I’ve only made it as written. We really love this stew! People have tried replacing the ketchup with tomato soup with good results so maybe try that next time. 🙂

I’m making this for dinner tonight. I did not have cream of celery soup, so instead I’m using cream of mushroom. Also, I’m using tomato soup rather than ketchup… hopefully it still turns out delicious!! Thanks for sharing 🙂

Just put this on! It’s really cool and rainy here in my part of Tennessee today. I’ve had this recipe on hand since September and thought today was the perfect day to try it! Can’t wait to taste it. Got it in a little late, though so I’m having to cook it on high for about 5-6 hrs! Luckily I’m home to keep a good eye on it. I’ll let you know what the family thinks!

I followed the instructions exactly and this stew was so delicious! I was really skeptical about the ketchup but all the flavors cook down and meld together. I cooked the stew for 7 hours on low and then the last hour on high because at the 7 hour mark my potatoes weren’t cooked as much as I would like but after an hour on high they were perfect!

We finally had some cool weather here in California so I made the beef stew last night for my adult son and his friend. They RAVED about it! None of us had a problem with the ketchup issue but we all like ketchup. I followed the recipe exactly except I added an entire bunch of celery cuz we love it. I have a 7 quart slow cooker and there was plenty of room. It was wonderful and the recipe has already been transcribed into my “keeper list”. Thanks for a great recipe! We’re having leftovers tonight!!! Yay!

We loved this stew. On of the best I’ve ever made. Only had cream of mushroom soup. Did add and extra pound of beef, 2 bay leaves, a tsp. each of thyme and herbs de Provence, 1/3 c red wine & 3 cloves of minced fresh garlic. Will try with cream of celery next time.

I started making this and then read the comments about it tasting too much like ketchup and got a little worried. So I tasted it and it was a tad too much for my liking but, I just added 1 can of beef broth and a bay leaf. It was amazing 😉 Thank you for sharing this recipe!

11/14/16. I made this tonight in the large oval size crockpot. I followed the recipe to a T! My carrots weren’t cooked all the way, and the ketchup taste was too heavy. My husband said it reminded him of tomato soup. After we ate the first two bowls. I added a can of beef broth as Christina said and turned it back on for two more hours. Going to give it a try. What can it hurt? Will get back to you and let you know if it helped any.

I’m making this tomorrow and I am so excited/nervous !!!!! I have seen some of the reviews about the ketchup being a bit much,,I HOPE it works out for us!! We are also making fresh french bread to go along with it. :):):)

I’m so glad I read the comments before making the stew. My husband and oldest son HATES ketchup. So, I added 2 tablespoons of tomato paste instead of ketchup. I also threw in a bag of frozen green beans. This recipe was awesome, my family loved it after a long day on the field of playing baseball. Thanks so much!

I just made this amazingly delicious beef stew tonight. I cooked it on high for 5 hours and it’s perfect. I made it with 50% less sugar and sodium ketchup. For those of you that don’t like ketchup, it DOES NOT taste like ketchup. It’s a wonderful gravy. To the cream of celery and ketchup mix, I add some minced garlic. When everything was done cooking I dumped a can of drained peas in and this is absolutely perfect. Read all of her directions and follow it to a “T”. The directions are very simple enough but it seems like folks are asking questions in the comments that she already explains in the directions. Just read. 🙂 Absolutely easy and delicious! Thank you, Holly!

I have made those beef stew a few times and added some modifications: Substitute cream of celery soup for cream of mushroom soup Add 1-2 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce Add about a teaspoon of onion powder Substitute chili powder for paprika 1/4-1/2 cup ketchup (to your preference, since the taste is a little over powering) Add a can of corn 1 hour before taking off heat

Definitely had a strong ketchup/tomato-ey taste. Added beef stock and it cut down on the taste but not enough. Would definitely be good without the ketchup, and maybe some sory of beef stock or gravy in its place. Onion soup made the beef delicious!

Used the homemade equivalent of two cans of cream soup + 3 tbsp. tomato paste + 1 tbsp. A1 steak sauce and a splash of Worcestershire sauce for the gravy. Nothing against canned soups — I just forgot to pick any up at the grocery store. Thank you for sharing! We’re going overnight with this recipe and delivering tomorrow to a friend who’s recovering from surgery. Smells delicious…visions of beef stew no doubt will be dancing thru our heads this eve.

Made this last night. Only used half cup of ketchup and it turned out really good. I also just tossed in a bowl instead of a bag and it was easier. I started it late so cooked on high for 4-5 hours and it made the meat a little too done. So next time I’ll cook on high for only 3-4 hours. Super easy and perfect for busy weekdays.

Hi Pinned this last week and now have it in my crock pot for tonight. The weather has been Hot here in NW GEORGIA but tonight it is supposed to be RAINY and temps dropping so I thought this would be Great for a Rainy Night in Georgia!

I”m extremely new to slow cooking, I”m going to make this tomorrow. when it says add to greased slow cooker are you just rubbing grease on the sides and bottom so it doesn’t stick or are you adding a certain amount of grease? also can you just spray with pam. sorry don’t want to sound dumb,but like I said extremely new

Our kids celebrate Christmas with their in-laws and we come together for a giant relaxing time later. Today the wife and I celebrated Christmas with the beef stew. I suggest that you plan to make it twice. The first time, follow all instructions exactly and remember that the final results may be hard for you to predict. It’s wonderful, and perfect for us, but save the changes for the second time. The condensed cream of celery soup was genius. Just right thickness for a stew. Thank you.

OMG. It is -29 degrees tonight for New Year’s Eve and I’ve had this in the crock pot all day. This was FABULOUS. The only thing I did different was add a splash of worchestshire and a beef bullion cube to it. Absolutely amazing and warmed our bellies on this freezing night. Thank you!!!

I’m trying this recipe right now! It looked so easy and it really was! I didn’t have baby carrots so I used chopped regular carrots and I don’t like potatoes so I substituted turnips (mama’s secret to get me to eat stew) . Hope it comes out good!

I made this exactly how the recipe states. The only thing I did different was cook on high for 4 hours because I started at 1 and didn’t have time to leave on low for 8 hours. It came out so incredibly good!! Don’t change anything! I will make this again!

I have made this several times now! I always toss everything in to the slow cooker and stir…only because i always forget to do the first step with the beef haha It definitely is not a healthy stew but sure is delicious! Thank you for the recipe!!

After reading all of the comments I did 1.5 packets of onion soup mix, 1/2 cup of ketchup and added 2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce on top once I assembled everything in the crockpot. Everyone loved it!!!! It was delicious!!! This will definitely be a staple in my house!

I’m just getting ready to make this but realized I only got one can of cream of celery soup. I can’t get to the store to get another one do you have any suggestions what I can use for the second can of soup?

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